Tua Tagovailoa sheds light on Dolphins dysfunction, calls out players-only meeting absences

The Miami Dolphins squandered a last-minute lead against the Los Angeles Chargers in Sunday's 29-27 loss, dropping them to 1-5. Apparent dysfunction in the locker room could be partially to blame for the disastrous start to the campaign, as quarterback Tua Tagovailoa brought to light after the loss a disconnect between team leadership and some of the players on the Dolphins roster.

Tagovailoa said players have been late to or outright skipped players-only meetings during the miserable six-game stretch. Players-only meetings are already generally hallmarks of a disastrous season, and attendance issues only add another layer to the dysfunction.

"I think it starts with the leadership and helping articulate that for the guys, and then what we're expecting out of the guys," Tagovailoa said postgame of preventing the season from going further off the rails. "We're expecting 'this.' Are we getting that? Are we not getting that? We have guys showing up to player-only meetings late, guys not showing up to player-only meetings. There's a lot that goes into that. Do we have to make this mandatory? Do we not have to make this mandatory? It's a lot of things of that nature that we've gotta get cleaned up, and it starts with the little things like that."

The Dolphins reportedly held a players-only meeting after their Week 1 blowout loss to the Indianapolis Colts. It is unclear how many times the roster convened privately from the coaching staff since then.

That initial meeting did not produce immediate results in the win column. The Dolphins proceeded to lose a pair of divisional games to the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills in the ensuing two weeks. Their lone victory on the year came in Week 4 against the New York Jets.

Team leadership has come into question throughout the year. Miami's captain list was a particularly notable one when the team announced it ahead of the season opener because of one specific omission. It is a six-man group including Tagovailoa, fullback Alec Ingold, linebacker Jordyn Brooks, center Aaron Brewer, defensive tackle Zach Sieler and edge rusher Bradley Chubb. Absent from that group is star wide receiver Tyreek Hill, who was excluded from the captaincy role for the first time in his Dolphins career after he made comments indicating a potential desire to leave the team.

Coach Mike McDaniel is far from immune to scrutiny, too. One month into the season, McDaniel appeared to have one of the hottest seats in the league. He now stands just one game above .500 for his career and is at the helm of what looks like a sinking ship.